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Turkish troops attacked by rebels |
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Written by Turkeygrid
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Sunday, 21 October 2007 06:33 |
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At least 12 Turkish soldiers and 32 PKK rebels have been killed in clashes in Hakkari region near the border with Iraq. The attack comes days after Turkey's parliament authorised the military to launch cross-border incursions into Iraq to hunt rebels based in the area. The vote followed a series of attacks blamed on the PKK in which almost 30 soldiers and civilians were killed. Elsewhere in south-east Turkey, a mine explosion hit a minibus injuring 17 civilian people including 5 children, Turkish television reported. Minibus was in a convoy returning from a wedding celebration.
The ambush on the soldiers took place in south-eastern Hakkari province near the town of Yuksekova, state news agency Anatolia said. The rebels attacked with heavy weapons, also wounding a number of soldiers, Turkish media reported.
Prime Minister Erdogan announced on Turkish television that the country's security officials would hold an emergency meeting later on Sunday to consider their response.
Kurdish officials in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region said Turkish artillery had fired across the border but there had been no casualties.
About 3,000 PKK fighters are believed to be based in northern Iraq near the Turkish border.
The attack will increase pressure on the government from the public and the military to do something about Kurdish rebels based in Iraq.
On Wednesday, parliament voted overwhelmingly in support of a motion to allow the military to launch offensives into Iraq to pursue Kurdish rebels.
The United States, Turkey's Nato ally, has led international calls for restraint.
The US and Iraq fear any incursions would destabilise Iraq's most peaceful area - the autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
Turkey has been urging the US and Iraq to do something about the PKK rebels based in the remote, mountainous area along the border with Turkey.
The parliamentary vote is a sign that Turkey is serious about wanting its allies and neighbours to help tackle the PKK, says our correspondent.
Washington lists the PKK as a terrorist organisation but has said Turkey should work with Iraq to solve the problem.
Iraqi leaders have said they are determined to end the PKK's activities in Iraq but have urged Turkey not to make an incursion.
More than 40,000 people have been killed since the PKK began fighting for greater autonomy for the largely-Kurdish south-eastern Turkey since 1984.
Demands for a separate Kurdish state were dropped in the 1990s. |